Scrubbers for the removal from gases of reactive vapors or sticky particulate contaminants require nonclogging designs with substantial liquid holdup and essentially no entrainment. Use of slurries for scrub liquids adds considerably to the potential for disruption of scrubber performance due to entrainment and growth of massive deposits.
Baffle tray towers have been used for dirty vapor-liquid gas absorption and heat transfer for a long time, e.g., as the ammoniated brine carbonation tower of the Solvay process and as contact condensers for contaminated steam. However, to our knowledge they have not been designed for use alone as scrubbers for the simultaneous removal of gaseous contaminants and particulates from gas streams, particularly hot flue gases.